Program recording reservation system and remote controller

ABSTRACT

A program recording reservation system includes a recording apparatus includes a recorder for recording a broadcast program and a remote controller for making a recording reservation. A content management section manages an average recording bit rate for several recording modes and the remaining recordable capacity of the recorder. Date and time at which a broadcast program is broadcast are obtained, and a recording capacity necessary for recording a corresponding program is computed. On the basis of the average recording bit rate for each recording, the duration of the broadcast program, and the remaining recordable capacity is determined. The capability, or incapability, of recording for each program is displayed in a program table.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present invention is a continuation application of U.S. Ser. No.11/550,161 filed Oct. 17, 2006, which contains subject matter related toJapanese Patent Application JP 2005-316976 filed in the Japanese PatentOffice on Oct. 31, 2005, the entire contents of both of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a program recording reservation systemfor making a recording reservation for a broadcast program and to aremote controller for making a program recording reservation therefor.

2. Description of the Related Art

In recent years, as a result of the advancement of informationtechnology, a technology has come to be used in which a plurality ofelectronic apparatuses in a house are interconnected with one anotherover a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network), so that informationis shared and managed among the electronic apparatuses.

As recording apparatuses capable of recording television broadcasts, HDD(Hard Disk Drive) recorders, which are large-capacity recording media,have been put into practical use. Since the recording capacity of an HDDrecorder is as much as several hundred gigabytes, it is possible torecord programs for a long duration. Furthermore, since HDD recordershave superior random search performance, they have become widely used inhomes.

A network-connected HDD recorder has received an electronic programguide (EPG) and can display the broadcast station of a program, abroadcast time, excerpts of content, and the like from among the programinformation obtained from the EPG on the screen of a television receiverconnected to the HDD recorder. A system has been provided in which auser is able to make reservations for video recording and soundrecording in a recording apparatus, such as an HDD recorder that isincorporated in the television receiver or that is externally connected,by selecting a program from the displayed program table. As a result ofusing a electronic program guide in the manner described above, it hasbecome possible to easily make recording reservations of programswithout performing complex operations.

In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1999-136646(FIG. 2), an apparatus for providing video and audio signals of adesired channel is disclosed.

In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-129289(FIG. 1), there is disclosed an apparatus for obtaining information of adesired video signal that is transmitted before the video signal isreceived and for enabling advance detection of capability orincapability of recording and advance identification by a program tableprofile and level information.

In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-244372(FIG. 1), there is disclosed a technology for performing a reservationrecording setting operation by coordinating operations of informationprocessing apparatuses having a program recording reservation function,which are connected over a network.

In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-244576(FIG. 1), there is disclosed a technology for performing a programrecording reservation operation in each of a plurality of apparatusesset in separate locations by suitably coordinating operations among twoor more information processing apparatuses.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the above-described HDD recorder, in the related art, it has not beenpossible to determine whether or not a specified program can be recordedwhen a program table is viewed. There are cases in which importantreservations cannot be made due to the following reasons. That is, thefact that a recording reservation cannot be made on the basis of errorinformation sent back from a recording apparatus is known after aprogram recording reservation operation after selecting a program isperformed. An error occurs in a recording apparatus only when a time atwhich recording is actually performed is reached, and incapability ofrecording is known.

In order to deal with such a situation, a system for making a recordingreservation by using service information of a digital broadcast has beenproposed. The service information refers to information containingprogram titles and a program table, and compression-related informationof video and audio signals of each program is sent. A system has beenproposed in which program title columns in a program table arecolor-coded for each program according to the type ofcompression-related information on the television receiver side, theprogram title columns are identified using marks, and the capability orincapability of recording of the recording apparatus is determined onthe basis of the compression-related information.

However, when a recording reservation is to be made using serviceinformation, capability or incapability of recording cannot bedetermined by a system in which a compression method is transcoded intoa format that can be recorded in a recording apparatus such as an HDDrecorder. Furthermore, it is not possible for the user to determinewhether or not a recording reservation is possible by only viewing theprogram table. In addition, a determination regarding capability orincapability of recording when the remaining recording capacity of therecording apparatus is insufficient cannot be performed. Consequently,there has been a demand for a technology for more easily makingrecording reservations.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances. It isdesirable to make a determination as to the capability or incapabilityof recording of a program when a recording reservation is to be made.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided aprogram recording reservation system including: a recording apparatusincluding a recorder for recording a broadcast program; and a remotecontroller for making a recording reservation for the recordingapparatus, wherein there is provided a content management section formanaging, as recording parameters, an average recording bit rate foreach of a plurality of provided recording modes and the remainingrecordable capacity of the recorder, date and time at which a broadcastprogram is scheduled to be broadcast are obtained as programinformation, a necessary recording capacity necessary for recording aprogram shown in the program information is computed, on the basis ofthe average recording bit rate for each recording mode provided by therecorder, a broadcast duration, and the remaining recordable capacity ofthe recorder, capability or incapability of recording of a broadcastprogram shown by the program information is determined, and thedetermined capability or incapability of recording for each program isdisplayed in the program table having the program information.

As a result of the above, it becomes possible to make a determination asto the capability or incapability of recording by calculating thenecessary recording capacity for each program on the basis of theaverage bit rate for each recording mode supported by the recorder andthe broadcast duration and by comparing the necessary recording capacitywith the remaining recording capacity of the recorder. The determinationresult is displayed in the program table.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a determination asto the capability or incapability of recording can be performed bycalculating the necessary recording capacity for each program on thebasis of the average bit rate for each recording mode supported by therecorder and the broadcast duration and by comparing the necessaryrecording capacity with the remaining recording capacity of therecorder. Therefore, when the remaining recording capacity of therecorder is small, a recording reservation can be made by setting asuitable recording mode capable of recording a program. Thus, there isan advantage that recording can be prevented from being stopped becausethe remaining recording capacity becomes zero while the recording isbeing performed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the internalconfiguration of a program recording reservation system according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functions of theprogram recording reservation system according to the embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing an example of processing ofdisplaying a program table according to the embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are illustrations showing an example of the displaychange of a program table according to the embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 5 is an illustration showing an example of a modification of theprogram table according to the embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described below withreference to the accompanying drawings. In this embodiment, adescription will be given by taking as an example a program recordingreservation system in which an HDD recorder and a remote controller areinterconnected with each other over a network, and a recordingreservation of a program can be set in an appropriate recording mode onthe basis of program information received from an EPG server and theremaining recording capacity of the HDD recorder.

First, a description will be given, with reference to FIG. 1, of anexample of the configuration of a program recording reservation systemaccording to this embodiment. An HDD recorder 1 having a hard disk drive16, and a remote controller 2 that can be used to remotely control theHDD recorder 1 and that can receive the recording state of the HDDrecorder 1 and a recording reservation list composed of the reservationdate of each reservation, the start time thereof, the end time thereof,the channel thereof, the recording mode thereof, and the like constitutea local area network via a network line 6. Thus, two-directioncommunication is possible. The network line 6 is connected to theInternet 4 via a router 3 for performing a relay of a network and isconfigured to receive program information from an EPG server 5 fordistributing program information. The system configured in this manneris referred to as a program recording reservation system 100. The HDDrecorder 1 has functions of supplying recording-related information tothe remote controller 2 via the network line 6. The remote controller 2has a display section 21 capable of displaying the capability orincapability of recording of each program and a recording mode in whichrecording is possible (for example, one of a high quality mode, astandard mode, a long play mode) in a list of programs on the basis ofthe recording-related information obtained from the HDD recorder 1 andprogram information obtained from the EPG server 5.

The HDD recorder 1 receives television broadcast waves from an antenna(not shown), and a tuner 18 for performing station selection and tuningoperation selects a desired broadcast station. Then, the video and audiosignals for the station that is selected are supplied to an encoder 19for performing an encoding process. The video and audio signals encodedusing a predetermined recording mode are recorded in the hard disk drive16. When the video and audio signals are to be recorded, it is necessaryto have an available capacity in which recording is possible in the harddisk drive 16, and this is referred to as a remaining recordingcapacity. Furthermore, since a plurality of tuners are provided, it ispossible to record a plurality of programs simultaneously in the sametime period, and the number of programs that can be recorded in thismanner is referred to as the number of programs that can be recordedsimultaneously. The bit rate during recording differs for each recordingmode. The higher the bit rate, the higher quality of recording possible.The average bit rate is recorded for each recording mode of the recordedprogram. The average bit rate is recorded as an average value determinedfrom the recording history of the HDD recorder 1, or an appropriatevalue is recorded as a fixed value for each recording mode.

In the hard disk drive 16 provided in the HDD recorder 1, a contentmanagement section 16 a for recording the current remaining recordingcapacity, the number of programs that can be recorded simultaneously inthe same time period, and the average bit rate of each recording mode,and a recording reservation list management section 16 b for recordingthe information of a recording reservation list in which recordingreservations are set by the user, are configured. A microcomputer 13 forcontrolling each section inside the HDD recorder 1 in response to useroperation from an operation section 12 having operation keys and buttonsor in response to user operation from the remote controller 2 via anetwork interface section 14 performs a predetermined process. In amemory 15, for example, a rewritable RAM (Random Access Memory) is usedto temporarily store data. Furthermore, in the memory 15, for example, aread only memory (ROM) is used to store processing programs, parameters,codes corresponding to operation keys, etc. The microcomputer 13 reads aprocessing program or the like from the memory 15 in order to executeit, displays processing results on a display section 11 having aliquid-crystal display panel, decodes a video signal or a programrecorded in the hard disk drive 16 and outputs video and audio signalsto an external interface section 17 in order to display the processingresults on the screen of a television receiver (not shown).

The remote controller 2 can be used to remotely control the HDD recorder1 by transmitting a predetermined control signal to the HDD recorder 1.Key code input from each key provided in an operation section 22 issupplied to a microcomputer 23 for performing internal control of theremote controller 2. In a memory 25, a rewritable RAM is used totemporarily store data. Furthermore, in the memory 25, for example, aread only memory (ROM) is used to store processing programs, parameters,codes corresponding to operation keys, and the like. The microcomputer23 reads a processing program or the like from the memory 25 in order toexecutes it, and supplies a predetermined remote control signal to anetwork interface section 24. In the network interface section 24, asignal received from the HDD recorder 1 and the EPG server 5 is decodedand supplied to the microcomputer 23. The microcomputer 23 performscontrol so that various kinds of recording reservation information arereceived from the HDD recorder 1 and a program table (to be describedlater) is displayed on the liquid-crystal display panel of the displaysection 21.

The router 3 has a function of relaying between the internal LAN and theexternal Internet 4. The router 3 sends a program information requestfrom the remote controller 2 to the EPG server 5 and allows the remotecontroller 2 to obtain program information responded from the EPG server5.

The EPG server 5 is connected from the remote controller 2 via theInternet 4, so that a program table can be obtained. In the EPG server5, a random accessible hard disk drive 53 is connected via a networkinterface section 52 that functions as an interface for the Internet andthe EPG server 5. In the hard disk drive 53, a program informationmanagement section 53 a for managing program information is configured.A CPU 51 for controlling processing of each section obtains programinformation from the program information management section 53 a inresponse to a request for program information from the remote controller2 and provides it from the network interface section 52 to the remotecontroller 2 via the Internet 4 and the router 3.

Next, a description will be given, with reference to FIG. 2, of anexample of the configuration when viewed in terms of the functions ofthe program recording reservation system 100 according to thisembodiment.

First, the current remaining recording capacity of the HDD recorder 1,the average recording bit-rate information for each recording mode, thenumber of programs that can be recorded simultaneously, and the like arereferred to as a recording parameter list, and the recording parameterlist is obtained from the HDD recorder 1. The display of the displaysection 21 of the remote controller 2 is switched to a program tabledisplay screen. At this time, a request for recording parameters is sentfrom a recording capability or incapability determination section 23 bfor making a determination as to the capability or incapability ofrecording on the basis of the recording parameter list and a recordingreservation list (to be described later) to a parameter obtainingsection 23 a for creating a recording parameter request command. Theparameter obtaining section 23 a creates a recording parameter requestcommand in a predetermined format and sends it to the HDD recorder 1 viathe network interface section 14.

In the HDD recorder 1, the parameter obtaining section 13 a forobtaining management information receives a request command from thecontent management section 16 a via the network interface section 24.Then, recording parameters, such as the current remaining recordingcapacity, the number of programs that can be recorded simultaneously,and the average recording bit-rate information for each recording mode,are obtained from the content management section 16 a. The average bitrate may be an average value determined in the past from the recordinghistory of the HDD recorder 1, or an appropriate value may be sent backas a fixed value for each recording mode. The HDD recorder 1 accordingto this example is assumed to have three kinds of recording modes thatcan be supported, that is, a high quality (HQ) mode, a standard play(SP) mode, and a long play (LP) mode, which are determined according toa codec and differences in resolution. On the basis of each of theobtained recording parameters, the parameter obtaining section 13 acreates a response message for the request command. Then, a responsemessage for the recording parameter list is sent to the remotecontroller 2 via the network interface section 24.

In the remote controller 2, the parameter obtaining section 23 areceives the response message for the recording parameter request viathe network interface section 14. Then, in the parameter obtainingsection 23 a, the message is divided into recording parameters and issent to the recording capability or incapability determination section23 b.

Here, recording reservation information, such as scheduled recordingdurations of programs that have been scheduled to be recorded, andrecording modes thereof, are referred to as a recording reservationlist, and the recording reservation list is obtained from the HDDrecorder 1. A request for a recording reservation list is sent from therecording capability or incapability determination section 23 b to theparameter obtaining section 23 a for creating arecording-reservation-list request command. The parameter obtainingsection 23 a creates a command for requesting a recording reservationlist in a predetermined format and sends the recording reservation listto the HDD recorder 1 via the network interface section 14.

In the HDD recorder 1, the parameter obtaining section 13 a receives arequest command via the network interface section 24. Then, theparameter obtaining section 13 a obtains the reservation date of eachrecording reservation, the start time thereof, the end time thereof, thechannel thereof, the recording mode thereof, and the like, of the listof the registered recording reservations from the recording reservationlist management section 16 b. On the basis of the obtained recordingreservation list, the parameter obtaining section 13 a creates aresponse message for the request command from the remote controller 2.Then, a response message for the recording reservation list is sent tothe remote controller 2 via the network interface section 24.

In the remote controller 2, the parameter obtaining section 23 areceives the response message for the recording-reservation-list requestvia the network interface section 14. Then, in the parameter obtainingsection 23 a, the message is divided into each piece of recordingreservation information and is sent to the recording capability orincapability determination section 23 b.

On the basis of the received recording parameter list and the recordingreservation list, the recording capability or incapability determinationsection 23 b calculates the remaining recording capacity necessary forrecording for all the reservations.

The broadcast station of a program to be broadcast, the broadcast timeperiod thereof, the content thereof, and the like are referred to asprogram information, and a program table is obtained from the EPG server5. In the remote controller 2, a request for program information is sentfrom the recording capability or incapability determination section 23 bto a program information obtaining section 23 c for creating a programinformation request command. The program information obtaining section23 c creates a program information request command in a predeterminedformat and sends the program information request from the networkinterface section 14 to the EPG server 5 via the router 3 and theInternet 4. In the EPG server 5, the program information managementsection 53 a receives a request command via the network interfacesection 52. Then, the program information registered in the programinformation management section 53 a is obtained. On the basis of theprogram information, a response message for the request command from theremote controller 2 is created. Then, a response message for the requestcommand is sent from the network interface section 52 to the remotecontroller 2 via the Internet 4 and the router 3.

In the remote controller 2, the program information obtaining section 23c receives a response message for the program table information requestvia the network interface section 14. Then, the message is divided intoeach piece of the program information and is sent to the recordingcapability or incapability determination section 23 b.

On the basis of the obtained recording parameters, the recordingreservation list, and the program information, the recording capabilityor incapability determination section 23 b specifies a program that isscheduled to be recorded in the same time period and for which anadditional recording reservation is not possible and specifies a programfor which a recording reservation is not possible by considering theremaining capacity of the recording apparatus. Furthermore, a programfor which a recording reservation is possible at the highest qualitywith respect to programs for which a recording reservation is possible.Then, display information that is color-coded for each program istransmitted to the display section 21 and is displayed as a programtable on the display section 21.

Next, a description will be given, with reference to FIG. 3, processingfor obtaining program information and for displaying the capability orincapability of recording of each program and recording modes in whichvideo recording is possible on the remote controller 2. FIG. 3 is asequence diagram showing an example of processing for displaying aprogram table on the display section 21 of the remote controller 2.

Initially, in order to display the program information on the remotecontroller 2, the display is switched to a program table display screen,and then a request for a recording parameter is made from the remotecontroller 2 to the HDD recorder 1 (step ST1). In response to therequest, the HDD recorder 1 responds back with recording parameters,such as the current remaining recording capacity, the average recordingbit-rate information for each recording mode that can be supported, andthe number of programs that can be recorded simultaneously (step ST2).

Next, a request for a recording reservation list is sent from the remotecontroller 2 (step ST3). In accordance with the request, the HDDrecorder 1 responds back with the recording reservation date, therecording start time, the recording end time, and the recording modefrom the recording reservation list of programs that have been scheduledto be recorded. Next, on the basis of the information on the receivedrecording reservation list, in the remote controller 2, the remainingcapacity of the recording apparatus after recording for all thecurrently registered reservations is performed is calculated on thebasis of the following calculation equations.

The recording capacity necessary for each recording reservation =(theaverage bit rate of the recording mode)×(the recording duration)

The remaining capacity=(the current remaining recording capacity)−(thetotal sum of recording capacities necessary for recording for all thecurrently registered reservations)

Next, a request for program information is sent from the remotecontroller 2 to the EPG server 5 (step ST6). In accordance with therequest, the EPG server 5 responds back with program information (stepST7). Next, programs for which an additional recording reservations isnot possible are specified on the basis of the number of programs thatcan be recorded simultaneously and the recording reservation listobtained from the HDD recorder 1, and the program information obtainedfrom the EPG server 5 (step ST8). It is possible for the HDD recorder 1according to this embodiment to record a plurality of programs in thesame time period. Therefore, it is necessary to make a determination asto the number of programs that can be recorded simultaneously withrespect to making reservations.

For specifying a time period in which an additional recordingreservation cannot be made, there are following two cases:

(1) When the number of programs that can be recorded simultaneously isone (when a plurality of programs cannot be recorded simultaneously),

all the time periods registered in the recording reservation list areset to time periods in which an additional recording reservation cannotbe made.

(2) When the number of programs that can be recorded simultaneously istwo or more,

recording reservations that are registered in an overlapping time periodamong the recording reservations registered in the recording reservationlist are extracted, and the time period in which the number of thereservations is the same as the number of programs that can be recordedsimultaneously is set to a time period in which an additional recordingreservation cannot be set.

For specifying a program for which an additional recording reservationcannot be set,

(3) a program overlapping the time period specified in (1) and (2)above.

Next, the broadcast duration of the program information is obtained, andafter the necessary recording capacity of each program is calculated inaccordance with an example of a calculation of the necessary recordingcapacity, the recording mode with the highest quality among therecording modes in which recording is possible is specified. A programfor which the remaining capacity is insufficient in all the recordingmodes is determined to be that a recording reservation cannot be set(step ST9). Here, when a recording reservation is made at a constanttime every day or every week, the necessary recording capacity iscalculated within a predetermined period (for example, for two weeks).

Examples of calculations for the necessary recording capacity when therecording mode is a “high quality” mode, a “standard play” mode, and a“long play” mode

Examples of calculations for the necessary recording capacity in eachrecording mode

The necessary recording capacity in the high quality mode=(the averagebit-rate information in the high quality mode)×(the broadcast duration)

The necessary recording capacity in the standard mode=(the averagebit-rate information in the standard mode)×(the broadcast duration)

The necessary recording capacity in the long play mode=(the averagebit-rate information in the long play mode)×(the broadcast duration)

For specifying the highest quality recording mode among the recordingmodes in which recording is possible

(1) A recording mode in which the capacity is larger than the remainingcapacity calculated in step ST5 among the necessary calculated recordingcapacities in each mode is excluded. At this time, in the case of avalue greater than the remaining capacity in all the recording modes,the program is determined to be not recordable.

(2) On the other hand, when there is a recording mode in which recordingis possible on the basis of the remaining capacity calculated in stepST5, the highest quality mode among those excluded is specified.

Next, on the basis of the determination results, programs that cannot bescheduled to be recorded because duplicate recording reservation cannotbe made and programs that cannot be scheduled to be recorded because theremaining capacity of the recording apparatus is insufficient arecolor-coded and displayed in the program table. For programs that can bescheduled to be recorded, modes in which recording is possible at thehighest image quality are color-coded and displayed in the program table(step ST10).

A description will now be given, with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B, ofan example of the display change of a screen when a recordingreservation of a program is made using a program table. The programtable of this example is displayed on the display section 21 of theremote controller 2, and the determination results are displayed in sucha manner as to be color-coded. It is possible for the user to make arecording reservation of a desired program while viewing the programtable screen. FIG. 4A shows an example of the display of a program tablebefore a recording reservation is made. FIG. 4B shows an example of thedisplay of a program table after a recording reservation is made. Thevertical axis of the program table shows a time at which a program isbroadcast, and the horizontal axis shows the channel number of a programand a broadcast station name.

Then, on the basis of the determination results, the programs, which arecolor-coded, are displayed in the program table. The recording modediffers for each duration of the program depending on the recordablecapacity of the HDD recorder 1. In this embodiment, it is assumed thatthe recordable capacity remains in the HDD recorder 1 for the period of30 minutes in the highest quality mode, for the period of 60 minutes inthe standard mode, and for the period of 90 minutes in the long playmode. At this time, the programs are color-coded in the manner describedbelow.

Program for which a recording reservation cannot be made because theremaining recording capacity of the recording apparatus is insufficient(program P1)

Program for which a recording reservation cannot be made because thereis another recording reservation in the same time period and the numberof programs that can be scheduled to be recorded in duplicate in thesame time period is insufficient (program P3)

Program that can be scheduled to be recorded in all the recording modesof the highest quality mode, the standard mode, and the long play mode(programs P4 and P6)

Program that can be scheduled to be recorded in one of the standard modeand the long play mode (program P5)

Program that can be scheduled to be recorded in the long play mode(program P2)

In FIG. 4A, a case in which a recording reservation of program P6 of ΔΔTV is made is considered. In this case, it is assumed that therecordable capacity remains in the HDD recorder 1 for the period of 0minutes in the highest quality mode, for the period of 30 minutes in thestandard mode, and for the period of 60 minutes in the long play mode.As a result of making a recording reservation, the color-coded displayof the program table shifts from that of FIG. 4A to that of FIG. 4B.Since program P2 is a 90-minute program, it cannot be recorded even inthe long play mode. Then, since four programs P4 from 9:30 to 11:30 of◯◯ TV are 30-minute programs, they cannot be recorded in the highquality mode and can be recorded in the standard mode. Since program P5is a 60-minute program, it cannot be recorded in the standard mode butcan be recorded in the long play mode. With respect to the program P1that cannot be recorded and program P3 for which a recording reservationcannot be set, the color does not change. For displaying the programtable, basically, the recording mode in which recording is possible atthe highest quality is set.

When the user is able to know the capability or incapability of arecording reservation of a program as a result of color-coding theprogram table in the manner described above, it has become possible toknow at a glance about in which recording mode the recording can beperformed.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, by displayingprograms that are to be broadcast from now as an electronic programtable using program information and by selecting a program in theprogram table, it is possible to make a reservation of video recordingand sound recording in an incorporated or externally connected recordingapparatus. For this reason, when the remaining recording capacity of theHDD recorder 1 is insufficient and recording reservations cannot bemade, it is possible to visually confirm programs for which recordingreservations can be made when the program table is displayed. Therefore,there is an advantage that efficient determination can be performed whencompared to the case in which the capability or incapability ofrecording is known after a recording reservation operation is performed.

Furthermore, when the remaining recording capacity of the recordingapparatus is small, it is possible to visually confirm a recording modein which recording is possible. Therefore, there are followingadvantages. It is possible to set a recording mode in which recording ofa program is possible before a recording reservation is made. Efficientdetermination can be performed when compared to the case in which thecapability or incapability of recording is confirmed by repeating arecording reservation while changing the recording mode. Furthermore,the possibility that recording will not be able to be performed becausethe recording is stopped while recording is being performed isdecreased.

Even when a recording reservation has already been made and anotherrecording reservation cannot be made in the same time period, it ispossible to visually confirm the fact by using the program table. Forthis reason, since the capability or incapability of a recordingreservation before a recording reservation operation is performed can bedetermined, there is an advantage that an unnecessary operation needsnot to be performed.

According to the above-described embodiment, a description has beengiven of the HDD recorder 1 having a function of performingcommunication via a network and the remote controller 2 capable ofobtaining program information via the network and displaying a programtable on the basis of a recording reservation list and recordingreservation parameters obtained from an apparatus to be controlled. Theembodiment is not limited to these examples. Even if, for example, acellular phone terminal, a PDA (Personal Digital (Data) Assistant), acomputer apparatus or the like is used as a remote controller, the sameadvantages as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

The programs that are displayed in the program table have beencolor-coded and displayed in such a manner as to correspond to therecording mode in which recording is possible and recordingreservations. Alternatively, guidance messages, such as recording modesand capability or incapability of recording reservations, or marksserving as predetermined identifiers, may be displayed at the beginningof the program title. FIG. 5 shows an example of the display of aprogram table in which video recording information is displayed at thebeginning of the program title. In this case, color-coded display foreach program is not performed, and, for example, “HQ”, “SP”, “LP”,“There is another reservation”, “Reserved”, “Recording is not possible”,and the like are described at the beginning of the program title. As aresult of the above, when selecting a program for which a recordingreservation is desired, identical advantages as those of theabove-described embodiment are obtained.

In step ST5 of FIG. 3, the remaining recording capacity is calculated bythe remote controller 2. Alternatively, the remaining recording capacitymay be calculated by the HDD recorder 1, and the calculation results maybe passed to the remote controller 2. In steps ST8 and ST9 of FIG. 3, aprogram for which a recording reservation is not possible is specifiedby the remote controller 2. Alternatively, by sending the broadcaststart time and the broadcast end time of a program to the HDD recorder 1or by obtaining program information by the HDD recorder 1, in the HDDrecorder 1, a program for which a recording reservation cannot be mademay be specified, and the result may be passed to the remote controller2. In step ST5 of FIG. 3, a determination is made as to the capabilityor incapability of video recording in each recording mode on the basisof the remaining capacity necessary for recording for all the currentlyregistered reservations. Alternatively, calculations may be performed onthe basis of the current remaining capacity without using this value. Asa result of the above, the calculation process can be shortened, thuspresenting an advantage that the processing load on the remotecontroller 2 can be reduced.

The functions of the remote controller 2 may be incorporated in the HDDrecorder 1, the HDD recorder 1 may obtain program information, and aprogram table may be displayed on a user interface (UI) screen of theHDD recorder 1. Alternatively, a program table may be displayed on anexternal display device, such as a television receiver connected to theexternal interface section 17 of the HDD recorder 1, and a recordingreservation may be set using the remote controller 2.

The program information may be based on information, such as serviceinformation, which is obtained by a method other than via a network. Forexample, by receiving broadcast waves and by recording programinformation, it becomes possible to make a recording reservation of aprogram by Internet connection without being connected to the EPGserver. Furthermore, program information received by a set top box maybe shared in a LAN in which a remote controller and an HDD recorder areconnected to each other. At this time, the HDD recorder has EPGinformation, so that it becomes possible for the remote controller toobtain a program table from the HDD recorder.

In the above-described embodiment, a recording reservation of atelevision broadcast has been described. Alternatively, the embodimentmay be used to record a radio broadcast and an Internet program. If theduration of a program that can be received is known in advance, thenecessary recording capacity can be compared with the remainingcapacity, and an appropriate recording reservation can be made.

In the above-described embodiment, an HDD recorder has been used.Alternatively, the embodiment may be applied to an apparatus havingidentical recording functions without being limited to an HDD recorder.In this case, for the recording medium, in addition to a hard diskdrive, for example, a non-volatile memory, an optical disc, a magneticdisk, a magnetic tape, and the like, may be used.

In the above-described embodiment, it has been described that thenetwork line 6 is wired and the HDD recorder 1, the remote controller 2,and the router 3 have a wired connection. However, as long asinformation can be communicated mutually as in a wireless LAN network orthe like, the type of transmission means is not limited.

In the above-described embodiment, regarding a program for which anadditional recording reservation cannot be set, the fact that arecording reservation is possible but there are program portions thatcannot be recorded during execution of recording although a recordingreservation is possible. Furthermore, in a program in a time periodoverlapping one of the reservations registered in a recordingreservation list, when some of the broadcasting time of the programsoverlap, the fact that there are program portions that cannot berecorded during execution of recording may be displayed. When the entirebroadcasting time of the programs overlaps, the fact that a recordingreservation can be made but recording is not possible may bediscriminately displayed. By making a recording reservation possibleeven if recording is not possible as described above, video recordingbecomes possible when recording reservations that are registered induplicate are deleted or the broadcast time of a program is changed. Asa result, convenience is improved for the user.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occurdepending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they arewithin the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

1. A program recording reservation system comprising: a recordingapparatus including a recorder to record a broadcast program; and aremote controller to make a recording reservation for the recordingapparatus, wherein there is provided a content management section tomanage, as recording parameters, an average recording bit rate for eachof a plurality of provided recording modes and the remaining recordablecapacity of the recorder, date and time at which a plurality ofbroadcast programs are scheduled to be broadcast are obtained as programinformation, a necessary recording capacity necessary for recording aprogram shown in the program information is computed, on the basis ofthe average recording bit rate for each recording mode provided by therecorder, a broadcast duration, and the remaining recordable capacity ofthe recorder, capability or incapability of recording each of broadcastprograms shown in the program information is determined, and thedetermined capability or incapability of recording for each broadcastprogram is displayed in the program table having the programinformation.
 2. The program recording reservation system according toclaim 1, wherein there is provided a recording reservation listmanagement section to manage recording reservation information of abroadcast program for which a recording reservation has been made in therecorder as a recording reservation list, and the recording reservationlist is obtained from the recording reservation list management section,a necessary recording capacity necessary to record all the programs thathave been scheduled to be recorded is computed on the basis of therecording parameters for each program that has been scheduled to berecorded in the recording reservation list, and capability orincapability of recording is determined for each program of the programinformation on the basis of the necessary recording capacity necessaryfor recording for each broadcast program displayed as the program tableand the remaining recordable capacity obtained by subtracting thenecessary recording capacity necessary for recording for thereservations from the remaining recordable capacity of the recorder. 3.The program recording reservation system according to claim 2, wherein,when there are recording modes in which recording is possible on thebasis of the determination result of the capability or incapability ofrecording, a recording mode having the highest quality among theprovided recording modes is displayed in the program table for eachprogram to be broadcast, and when there are no recording modes in whichrecording is possible, the fact that recording is not possible isdisplayed for each program to be broadcast in the program table.
 4. Theprogram recording reservation system according to claim 2, wherein therecording parameters include the number of programs that can be recordedsimultaneously in the same time period, and when the recordingreservation list shows that an additional recording reservation in thesame time period cannot be made due to a limitation on the number ofprograms that can be recorded simultaneously at the day and time atwhich a program that is scheduled to be recorded is to be broadcast, therecording capability or incapability determination section displays, foreach of broadcast programs, the fact that a recording reservation cannotbe made for a program whose broadcast scheduled date and time overlapthe scheduled date and time of the program that has been scheduled to berecorded, or the fact that the entire program cannot be recorded even ifa recording reservation is made.
 5. The program recording reservationsystem according to claim 3, wherein the results determined by therecording capability or incapability determination section are displayedin the program table in such a manner as to be color-coded for eachbroadcast program.
 6. The program recording reservation system accordingto claim 3, wherein the results determined by the recording capabilityor incapability determination section are displayed in the program tablein such a manner that a predetermined identifier is attached for eachbroadcast program.
 7. A remote controller capable of setting a recordingreservation to a recording apparatus for allowing a content managementsection to manage an average recording bit rate for each of a pluralityof recording modes and the remaining recordable capacity of a recorderas recording parameters and for recording a broadcast program in therecorder, the remote controller comprising: a parameter obtainingsection to obtain a recording parameter from the content managementsection of the recording apparatus; a program information obtainingsection to obtain broadcast scheduled date and time of a plurality ofbroadcast programs as program information; a recording capability orincapability determination section to compute a necessary recordingcapacity necessary to record each of the plurality of broadcast programsshown in the program information on the basis of the recordingparameters for each broadcast program and to make a determination as tothe capability or incapability of recording of each of the broadcastprograms shown in the program information on the basis of the averagerecording bit rate for each recording mode provided in the recorder, abroadcast duration, and the remaining recordable capacity of therecorder; and a display section to display the determined capability orincapability of recording for each broadcast program in the programtable having the program information.